Webmaster's note: In the summer of 2005 I spent 6 weeks in London learning BSL, I was extremely confused about the differences between Great Britain, United Kingdom, and England. Here is an attempt at a clarification: If you look at the map above, you will see two huge islands side by side. The western island is Ireland; the eastern island is Great Britain. Ireland is composed of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to the south, the latter is not part of the United Kingdom and has its own webpage. Great Britain is composed of England, Scotland, and Wales. The indenting below follows these distinctions.

Britain (Great Britain)

(1) (2h)[5], POs down, FOs away, are held at waist level and move up and down. For an animated gif of this sign, see
BristishSignLanguage.com - Britain. (< HERE or "it rains a lot".) (2) G-B in British fingerspelling2, that is, (2h)[S], DH strikes NDH on thumb side from above with little finger side.3

ENGLAND (England)

(2h)[1], POs > signer, but forming right
angles so that FTs can point outward diagonally. DH slides its index finger
along NDH's index several times.4 (< the
index finger is an "E" in British fingerspelling.) For an animated gif of
this sign, see
BritishSignLanguage.com - England. Please note: The sign [bC] or [bC
dot], PO towards, FO > NDS, strikes chin is not used in BSL, although I
have seen it reported as such.

[5^] is held at nose and moves diagonally
down while closing to an [O^].4 (<
the primary meaning of "wolf.")

SCOTLAND (Alba)

[S] arm is held with elbow at side with
fist close to chest and arm squeezes against chest 2x as if playing
bagpipes.4 (< bagpipes.) For an animated
gif of this sign, see
BritishSignLanguage.com -Scotland.

(2h)[S], DH strikes NDH on thumb side from
above with little finger side + [5] smacks palm against knuckles of [S]
from the DS.6 (< British
fingerspelling G and almost a W, except a pun is made on the fact that
two fighters knock heads is called "a Glasgow kiss.")

WALES (Cymru)

(1) [W:], PO > NDS, FO up, is held on DS and
descends slightly. For an animated gif of this sign, see
BritishSignLanguage.com - Wales. (2) [W], PO away, FO up, is
held on NDS and descends slightly while bending FT.4 (3) [W], PO > signer, touches chin at
FTs and moves away from signer.1